This installment of “From the Colonel’s Desk” comes from the pen of Col. John Riley, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels (commissioned 1985), a longtime numismatist who hails from the Bluegrass State. Miss Manners would no doubt consider it crass to talk about the prices of our accumulated treasures. “Don’t be a clod,” she might say! […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: Silver medals for the Kentucky Derby
Last week’s Kentucky Derby win by Rich Strike was one of the biggest upsets in the famous race’s nearly 150-year history. The chestnut colt wasn’t even scheduled to compete in this year’s “Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” until just before the deadline, when Ethereal Road was scratched from the lineup. While his competitors ran out […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: Stephen Choate’s 1850 text message from Louisville
In the 1800s American merchants, artists, and tradesmen took advantage of money in a way that today might seem peculiar. They recognized a certain usefulness that coins possess above and beyond their monetary value. They used them for advertising. By means of a small, customized metal punch, a business could stamp its name or other […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: Kentucky Colonel Oscar Tshiebwe rejoins the Wildcats
On April 13, one of the Bluegrass State’s biggest basketball stars was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel at the 2022 Governor’s Prayer Breakfast. Curadham Powell of WLKY (Louisville) reported that Kentucky Wildcat Oscar Tshiebwe, the event’s keynote speaker, “gave some inspirational comments, attributing many of them to his upbringing with his mother” and then Governor […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: A silver half dollar for Kentucky’s Troubadour
The United States Mint has issued congressionally authorized commemoratives since 1892. The first such “souvenir coins” were for the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. Others followed to celebrate General Lafayette, the Louisiana Purchase, Ulysses Grant, California’s diamond jubilee, and other people, places, and events. As Q. David Bowers has said (in his magisterial Expert’s […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: Kentucky treasures waiting to be found
Nothing excites a coin collector quite as much as hidden treasure waiting to be found. The great numismatic historian Q. David Bowers has tapped into that primal interest many times over the years, in articles and in popular books including Lost and Found Coin Hoards and Treasures. Hidden-treasure stories are about coins, but on a […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: The marvelous fortune of Glasgow’s “Uncle Steve” Landrum
When the national census was taken in 1850, William and Elizabeth Landrum—slaveowners originally from Virginia—were living in Barren County, Kentucky. Among their household was a slave couple, owned by Mrs. Landrum, who gave birth in October 1846 to a boy they named Stephen. The details of young Stephen’s childhood are lost to history. Enslaved blacks […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: The whimsical tokens of northern Kentucky—and the story of “Sin City”
This installment of “From the Colonel’s Desk” comes from the pen of Col. John Riley, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels (commissioned 1985), a longtime numismatist who hails from the Bluegrass State. When I was a kid visiting coin shops and flea markets in the 1970s, a reliable giveaway or “junkbox” item was often an odd-shaped […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: The hobo nickel’s Kentucky connection
In the 1970s, the entire population of Kentucky’s south-central Barren County, just north of the Tennessee border, was about 28,000 souls. Nearly half of those Kentuckians lived in the county seat, the city of Glasgow. Most of the rest made their homes in 500 square miles of farmland and towns and unincorporated small communities. It […]
From the Colonel’s Desk: Collectibles from Louisville’s Southern Exposition of 1883–1887
If you’re not already a member of the Token and Medal Society, you really need to sign up. Tokens and medals offer unique windows into American history, including many connections to the Bluegrass State. TAMS is an active hobby group. It’s been around for more than 60 years and it boasts one of the most […]
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